From Temple to Church: The Redefinition of the Sacred Landscape on the Acropolis Bente Kiilerich A pioneering article on temple conversion was published in 1939 by Friedrich Wilhelm Deichmann. Here, the author listed eighty-nine temples that were converted into churches in the early Christian period. 1 As subsequent excavations have shown, the figure was probably at least twice as high. In the following pages, particular attention will be paid to problems associ- ated with a specific site, Athens, and the fate of the architecture and sculpture of her two major temples, the Parthenon and the Erechtheion. Both were dedi- cated to the Virgin Athena and both were rededicated to the Virgin Mary. 2 e Attitude towards Pagan Temples e study of the conversion of temples into churches is fraught with histori- cal, archaeological, philological, and religious problems. 3 Early Christian atti- 1 Deichmann 1939: 115–36. The areas surveyed are Syria and Palestine (thirty-two instances), Egypt and Nubia (twenty-three instances), Asia Minor and Constantinople (seven- teen instances), Athens/Greece (five instances), Italy (seven instances), and North Africa (five instances). For some sites the evidence is quite scanty. 2 I should very much like to thank the library and staff of l’École française d’Athènes for their generous hospitality in October 2007 and on many later occasions, which gave me as lect- eur the opportunity to consult various publications and thus update and expand bibliographical references for the current study. 3 For discussions, bibliographies, and various views, see Spieser 1976; Fowden 1978; Bente Kiilerich (bente.kiilerich@lle.uib.no) Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies, University of Bergen Sacred Sites and Holy Places: Exploring the Sacralization of Landscape through Time and Space, ed. by Sæbjørg Walaker Nordeide and Stefan Brink (Turnhout: Brepols, 2013)                   SEM 11 pp. 187–214 BREPOLS PUBLISHERS 10.1484/M.SEM.1.101569 © BREPOLS PUBLISHERS THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE PRINTED FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER.